Histone deacetylase inhibitors have been actively explored as a new generation of chemotherapeutics for cancers, generally known as epigenetic therapeutics. Two novel series of N-(2-amino-phenyl)-4-{[(2/3/4-substituted-phenylcarbamoyl)-methyl]-amino}-butyramide and N-(2-amino-phenyl)-4-{[(2/3/4-substituted-phenylcarbamoyl)-methyl]-amino}benzamide were designed and synthesized as novel histone deacetylase inhibitors. The anticancer potential of the compounds were determined in-vitro using MTT assay against HCT-116 and U251 (glioma) cell lines and histone deacetylase inhibitory assay. The synthesized compounds were investigated for anti-tumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells in Swiss albino mice. The efforts were also made to ascertain structure-activity relationships among test compounds. The results of the present studying represents appraisal of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) as linker moiety for development of newer benzamide based histone deacetylase inhibitor.